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Seahawks Just Miss Swim Title

BERLIN- One week after dominating at the state regional meet, Stephen Decatur’s varsity swimming teams turned in strong performances at the Class 4A-3A state championship meet with the boys’ team finishing second overall and collecting four individual titles.

Decatur’s boys’ team won the state regional meet two weeks ago and took that momentum into the state championship meet at the University of Maryland last weekend. The Seahawks finished second overall with 282.5 total team points, narrowly missing a state team championship. Fallston was first with 284 team points, just one-and-a-half points better than the Seahawks.

Perhaps more important were the individual efforts turned in by the Seahawks. Decatur’s Jake Blazer won two individual events and was part of two relay teams that also finished first among some of the top swimming programs in the state. Blazer won the men’s 50-meter freestyle race, finishing in 23.09, while teammate Austin Deppe was fifth in the event. Blazer also finished first in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, while teammate Christian Yandle was ninth.

Decatur also won the men’s 200-meter freestyle relay, led by Blazer, Deppe, Shayne Custodio and Garrett Neville. The Seahawk boys’ won the 400-meter freestyle relay behind Blazer, Yandle, Deppe and Custodio. The Decatur relay teams were strong all day with the team of Yandle, Jake Middleton, Deppe and Neville finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle relay.

In other notable finishes for the Seahawks, Jake Middleton was second in the 200-meter freestyle, while Yandle finished sixth. In the 100-meter butterfly, Custodio finished second, while Jake Middleton finished third in the 500-meter freestyle. Custodio was second in the men’s 100-meter backstroke, while Jeff Middleton finished 10th. Neville was fifth in the 100-meter breaststroke.

The Seahawk girls also enjoyed a successful meet with a 12th place finish among the 27 teams with 98 points and a handful of individual successes. Brianna Carroll finished fifth in the 200-meter freestyle and eighth in the 100-meter butterfly. Carroll was also part of the Decatur’s eighth place team in the 200-meter freestyle relay, which also included Courtney Walls, Ali McLoota and Julia Wellen. McLoota also finished fifth in the 100-meter breaststroke and 10th in the 200-mter individual medley.